The invention relates to a valve arrangement comprising a valve support having at least one component mounting face for a valve unit and at least one valve unit which with the formation of a structural unit is able to be mounted on the at least one component mounting face and to be fixed thereon by means of two spaced apart attachment means, the first attachment means having a hook section arranged on the valve support and a second stationary hook section provided for hooking onto it, on the valve unit, the second attachment means comprising at least one retaining clip for bracing the valve unit to the valve support.
A valve arrangement disclosed in the European patent publication EP 0493972 B1 of this type comprises a first attachment means with a first hook section mounted in a pivotal manner on the valve support and connected drivingly by a linkage with a retaining clip also mounted on the valve support, of a second attachment means. The retaining clip is an angled sheet metal component able to be clipped in place by means of an attachment screw acting on the linkage. For mounting in place a valve unit is firstly hooked in the retaining clip with the attachment screw slackened off then to form a valve unit cum valve support is swung onto the component mounting face of the valve support. This means that the first hook section is shifted into an-at-the-ready position opposite the second hook section arranged on the valve unit. By then tightening up the attachment screw on the one hand the retaining clip is clipped on and on the other hand at the same time, via the linkage, the first hook section is pivoted into a hooked engagement position with the second hook section and braced on it. Accordingly the valve unit is generally braced on the valve support in a releasable fashion.
The attachment means present in this prior art admittedly appear to function satisfactorily. In particular they render possible the plugging of the valve unit on the valve support by actuating measures limited to one side of the structural unit, namely the tightening of the attachment screw. The large number of components of the two attachment means and the measures for the mounting thereof on the valve support however involve relatively high manufacturing costs and particularly slow assembly of the individual components on the valve support.
The German patent publication DE 1211453 discloses a valve arrangement in which a valve unit is also able to be secured to a valve support by means of two spaced apart attachment means. The one attachment means comprises a toggle fastener able to brace the valve unit against the valve support. Prior to activation of the toggle fastener the valve unit is plugged in a direction parallel to the component mounting face and so connected with the valve support, it being joined with the valve support using the other attachment means. In the case of this valve arrangement the toggle fastener occupies a relatively large amount of space. Furthermore on plugging the valve unit to the valve support there may be damage to a seal between such two components, because the valve unit slides along the component mounting face. The latter disadvantage is admittedly to be avoided by clipping the valve unit at both terminal sides by means of a respective toggle fastener to the valve support. However this requires active actuating means on two sides of the assembly comprising the valve unit and the valve support, something which is relatively complex and is frequently hindered owing to a disadvantageous shortage of space on the site where the valve arrangement is employed.
The German patent publication DE 3447263 A1 discloses clipping individual segments of a valve unit by means of dovetail clips. The clips are thrust in from the side into the grooves in the adjacent valve support segments. Since a respective clip must be on opposite sides of the valve support segments, handling is relatively complex here as well.